Even Vladimir Putin’s elite units are abandoning the fight in Ukraine and heading home, according to new audio released by Ukrainian intelligence on Tuesday. In a 50-second audio clip that Ukraine’s Security Service says is an intercepted communication between a Russian soldier and his friend, the soldier complains of more losses in Ukraine “than in four years in Chechnya.” His comrade admits that he doesn’t even know the real death toll, as “they don’t voice [the numbers] here.” He then asks if it’s true that members of the RosGvardia, Putin’s National Guard, have been leaving Ukraine along with the special police known as the Omonovtsy. The soldier erupts with fury: “We don’t fucking need them. They’re returning [home] because they’re staging revolts, they don’t want to go any further. All these fucking special forces, our fighters, dammit, backtracked… and they refuse to go further.” Ukrainian authorities did not specify where the purported soldier in the recording was based in Ukraine, and it was not clear when the call was intercepted.
